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. 2004 May-Jun;119(3):322–330. doi: 10.1016/j.phr.2004.04.011

Reducing disparities for African Americans with diabetes: progress made by the REACH 2010 Charleston and Georgetown Diabetes Coalition.

Carolyn Jenkins 1, Sara McNary 1, Barbara A Carlson 1, Marilyn Givens King 1, Charles L Hossler 1, Gayenell Magwood 1, Deyi Zheng 1, Katharine Hendrix 1, Lorna Shelton Beck 1, Florene Linnen 1, Virginia Thomas 1, Sheila Powell 1, Imani Ma'at 1
PMCID: PMC1497632  PMID: 15158111

Abstract

Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) is a U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstration program that responds to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' goal to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health status by the year 2010. As part of REACH 2010, community projects were funded to develop, implement, and evaluate community action plans to improve health care and outcomes for racial and ethnic populations. This article describes the program and details the progress of the REACH 2010: Charleston and Georgetown Diabetes Coalition in reducing disparities in care. Approaches employed by the Coalition included community development, empowerment, and education related to diabetes; health systems change associated with access, care, and education; and coalition advocacy. Racial disparities were identified for 12,000 African Americans with diabetes in this urban/rural South Carolina community. After 24 months, significant differences that initially ranged from 11% to 28% in African Americans (when compared with whites/others) were not observed on 270 chart audits for A1C, lipid and kidney testing, eye examinations, and blood pressure control. Future efforts will focus on maintaining progress, eliminating other disparities, and identifying the contributions of each intervention in eliminating racial disparities.

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Selected References

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